The present invention is directed to a fishing reel having a spool and a rotor for winding a fishing line onto the spool. More particularly, the invention is directed to a fishing reel having an oscillating spool that oscillates at a substantially uniform velocity throughout the stroke of the spool while the rotor winds the fishing line onto the spool.
Open face fishing reels are well known in the art. This type of fishing reel typically has a main shaft mounted within a housing and a fishing line spool attached to the end of the main shaft. The end of the main shaft opposite the fishing line spool has a drive assembly for reciprocating the main shaft and the spool in an axial direction while a rotor revolves around the spool to wind the fishing line onto the spool. Generally, the drive member has a straight slot that receives a pin mounted in a rotating oscillating gear. The oscillating gear is rotated by turning a handle or crank. An example of this type of fishing reel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,299 to Henriksson.
Another type of fishing reel includes a main shaft having a spool mounted at one end of the main shaft where the main shaft is rotatably and axially displaceable in a housing. A driving gear is also mounted in the housing and meshes with an oscillating gear. The oscillating gear is operatively coupled to the main shaft for oscillating the main shaft and spool in an axial direction.
These devices typically oscillate the spool in an axial direction while the fishing line is wound onto the spool. The oscillating gear includes a cam surface connected to an oscillating slider for imparting the axial motion to the spool while the line is being retrieved. The slot in the oscillation slider is generally either a straight slot or an S-shaped slot. A straight slot in the oscillation slider of most reels produces an axial motion that moves at a non-uniform speed. The axial motion produced by the slider results in a decrease in the speed of the main shaft towards the end of each stroke. Thus, as the cam approaches the end of the slot, the speed of the slider decreases and then increases as the cam moves away from the end of slot. Since the rotation of the rotor and the winding of the fishing line onto the spool is constant, the distribution of the fishing line on the spool is uneven. The decrease in speed of the main shaft and spool result in an increase of the fishing line building up at each end of the spool. The uneven winding of the fishing line on the spool results in a decrease in casting distance and increases the occurrence of wind knots. In addition, a non-uniform distribution of the fishing line on the spool can decrease the efficiency and smoothness of the drag function of the reel.
Various efforts have been made to produce a fishing reel that winds the fishing line onto a spool at a uniform rate. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,653 to Okada. This patent discloses a fishing reel comprising a reel body, a rotating frame and a spool shaft that is movable along the axis of rotation of the rotating frame. An oscillating gear is provided in the reel body to oscillate the main shaft in a manner to apply the line uniformly on the spool. The rotational member includes a first projection engaging a cam groove formed on an inner surface of the reel body. A second projection engages the oscillator to control the speed of the oscillator. This results in the main shaft oscillating at a speed in relation to the rotor to wind the fishing line in a more uniform manner onto the spool.
The above-noted fishing reels are generally effective for their intended purpose but are difficult to assemble, expensive to manufacture and require large amounts of space in the housing. Accordingly, there is a continuing need in the industry for an improved fishing reel that is able to wind a fishing line uniformly onto a spool.
The present invention is directed to a fishing reel having a non-rotating spool that oscillates in an axial direction as a fishing line is wound onto the spool. More particularly, the invention is directed to a fishing reel having a drive assembly that oscillates the spool axially with respect to a housing to wind the fishing line uniformly onto the spool.
Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having an oscillating spool where the spool oscillates along an axis at a substantially constant velocity with respect to winding speed of a fishing line onto the spool.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having an oscillating spool that is able to wind the fishing line onto the spool without buildup of line at the end of each stroke of the oscillating spool.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel including an oscillating spool and a rotor for winding fishing line onto the spool, where the spool and the rotor are operatively coupled together so that the spool oscillates about its axis at a velocity proportional to a rotational velocity of the rotor.
A further object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel that is able to wind a fishing line uniformly onto a spool to improve casting ability of the fishing reel.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having an oscillating spool that is able to wind the fishing line onto the spool with a decreased incidence of winding knots.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having a spool mounted on an oscillating main shaft where the main shaft includes a slider having a figure-8 shaped slot for engaging a cam member.
A further object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having a spool coupled to an oscillating slider where the slider includes two cooperating cam surfaces for oscillating the slider at a substantially uniform velocity.
Another object of the invention is to providing a fishing reel having an oscillating member with a cam member operatively connected to a slider having a substantially figure-8 shaped slot for oscillating a spool at a substantially uniform speed along an axis while winding a fishing line onto the spool.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having a rotatable oscillating member having two cam members engaging an oscillating slider to oscillate a spool along an axis at a substantially constant speed with respect to a rotational velocity of the oscillating member.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fishing reel having a spool coupled to a main shaft having an oscillating slider where the slider includes a figure-8 shaped recess receiving a cam member where the cam member maintains substantially continuous contact with the surface of the recess in the slider.
The foregoing objects and advantages of the invention are basically attained by providing a fishing reel comprising a housing having a forward end and back end and a main shaft mounted in the housing. The main shaft has a first axial end and second axial end. A line spool is coupled to the first end of the main shaft for receiving a fishing line. The main shaft is non-rotatable with respect to the housing. A rotor assembly is rotatably mounted in the housing and is rotatable about the main shaft for winding the fishing line on the spool. An oscillating slider is coupled to the second end of the main shaft. The slider has a side face with a recess therein. The recess has a first cam surface and a second cam surface. An oscillating member is rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the main shaft. The oscillating member has a cam assembly operatively connected to the slider. The cam assembly has a first cam member for engaging the first cam surface and a second cam member for engaging the second cam surface for oscillating the drive member and spool by rotation of the oscillating member.
The objects and advantages of the invention are further attained by providing a fishing reel comprising a housing having a forward end and a back end, and a main shaft mounted for limited axial movement in the housing. The main shaft has a longitudinal axis with a first axial end and second axial end. The first end of the main shaft extends from the forward end of the housing. The main shaft is non-rotatable with respect to the housing. A drag assembly is coupled to the first end of the main shaft. A line spool is coupled to the drag assembly for receiving a fishing line. A rotor assembly is rotatably mounted on the main shaft for winding the fishing line on the spool. An oscillating slider is coupled to the second end of the main shaft. The slider has a side face with a first recess having a substantially figure-8 configuration. The recess has a first substantially continuous cam surface. An oscillating member is rotatably mounted in the housing about an axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of the main shaft. The oscillating member has a cam assembly operatively connected to the slider and is received in the recess for oscillating the slider and main shaft along the longitudinal axis upon rotation of the oscillating member.
The objects and advantages of the invention are also attained by providing a fishing reel comprising a housing having a forward end and a back end and a main shaft having a longitudinal axis mounted in the housing for limited axial movement. The spool has a first and a second axial end. A drag assembly is coupled to the first axial end of the main shaft. A line spool is coupled to the drag assembly. A rotor assembly is mounted in the housing for winding the fishing line onto the spool. A drive member is coupled to the second end of the main shaft. The drive member has a side face with a recess. The recess has a substantially continuous surface defining a first cam surface. An oscillating member is rotatably mounted in the housing about an axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of the main shaft. The oscillating member has a cam assembly fixed to the oscillating member and operatively coupled to the first recess in the drive member, wherein the recess in the drive member has a shape to cause the main shaft to reciprocate along the axis of the main shaft at a substantially constant velocity upon rotation of the oscillating member.
The objects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following detailed description of the invention and the annexed drawings which form a part of this original disclosure.